It's D-Day! After two months of confinement, outings, although still limited, are once again authorized in France. And for many, it means going back to work. If you live in a big city, it looks complicated to take the metro between closed stations, risk of verbalization and promiscuity which can be scary. A situation that could benefit operators of self-service bicycles, scooters and scooters. Nothing says that the user who precedes you did not leave the coronavirus on the handlebars but measures are taken to reassure the users.
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Bikes: the essential barrier gestures
It will be the most complicated for self-service bikes. In Paris for example, it is impossible to disinfect the 19,000 Vélib 'after each race, or even every day. "It will only be done during maintenance operations, every three weeks on average," said operator Smovengo. However, this is what Jump, the Uber industry that deploys 5,000 bikes and 1,000 scooters in Paris, hopes to achieve. Its operators were equipped with masks, visors, bottles of hydroalcoholic gel and disinfectant wipes.
If it was once considered to install hydroalcoholic gel dispensers at each Vélib 'station, this idea was quickly abandoned because of the risk of theft and damage. So, in the capital as in the other big cities, the operators relay the barrier gestures: wash your hands before and after each race, do not touch your face, wear gloves. A message is displayed when the Vélib 'application is opened. In Lyon, gestures are even recalled on the screens of reservation terminals. Users are also invited to respect social distancing at stations and on the road.
Scooters: daily disinfection
It will be simpler, however, for electric scooters. Most operators had removed their fleets during containment, but the scooters are back with special treatment. "When they are maintained in the workshop, loaded or deployed in the city, all scooters are carefully disinfected", details the action plan of the operator Lime, the most present in France. "All the employees wear gloves and masks, and have undergone training to comply with strict hygiene rules, in particular on respecting social distancing."
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"Obviously, we can't disinfect scooters after each use, but we are hopeful that we can clean them at least once a day in Paris," said Driss Ibenmansour, France's general manager for Bird. "Our field team, which until now was responsible for parking and regulation, is now responsible for disinfecting scooters as often as possible," he said. To take care of its 3,000 Parisian vehicles, Bird will double the size of this team, from fifteen to thirty people. Each service also recalls the barrier gestures on its application and encourages users to wear gloves and masks.
Scooters: a less risky alternative?
And then there is the scooter option. In health terms, this transport solution has an advantage: wearing gloves is compulsory anyway. For the head, "we provide users with hygienic charlottes to put in the shared helmet", explains Vincent Bustarret, marketing director of Cityscoot (3,800 vehicles in Paris and in neighboring municipalities). "Users are asked not to put the headset in contact with their mouth or nose."
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In addition, the two self-service wheels will be disinfected each time the battery is recharged, an operation that takes place "on average every 24 to 48 hours", according to Vincent Bustarret. "Handlebar, saddle, brakes, grips: all contact surfaces will be cleaned with a suitable product." And, because too much is never enough, the essential barrier gestures are also reminded when the application is started.